Friday 28 April 2017

3 actions to achieve the remarkable

On pages 34 and 35 of the Achieve Remarkable Things ebook is the wonderful story of Paul Cummins the ceramic artist behind the 888,246 ceramic poppies that once surrounded the Tower of London.

Paul did 3 things. You can too.


Download the ebook here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS Next Monday I'm beginning a special series to celebrate my key lessons from 10 years of blogging. All the posts will be gathered together in an ebook that will be made available to you as a gift at the end of May. A feature is the fact in my view that 'Remarkable is the new normal'.

Wednesday 26 April 2017

Maintaining Momentum Online Master-mind Groups

I've been engaged in master-mind groups as a participant and as a leader/moderator for almost half my life. The journey began 35 years ago when I first read the great book 'Think and Grow Rich'.

I currently lead an in person group that meets monthly in Ballarat, my place of birth. I also provide 1:1 mentoring for members in between group gatherings. Find out more here.

The most remarkable leaders I know are in the habit of regularly stepping off the field of play to work on yourself and on your business.

Because of the wonders of technology the majesty of master-mind groups can now happen online where we can tap into the wisdom of peers operating in non-competitive businesses and from different countries and cultures.

I regard having a mentor/s and belonging to a master-mind group/s as the top two essentials for personal and business growth.

I'm excited to call for expressions of interest in 'Maintaining Momentum Online Master-mind Groups'. Please download the details here and then get in touch.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 24 April 2017

How To Achieve Remarkable Things

I was doing some research over the weekend for one of my posts in the special series I'm doing next month to celebrate 10 years of blogging. I'm calling the post 'Remarkable is the new normal'.

This ebook from the folk at TomorrowToday offers a lot of great insights into how to make achieving remarkable things a way of life.

You can download it here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 21 April 2017

Better practice is the key to better results

I found the video below at this website after reading the book which I recommend.

I actually found the website, which has more excellent videos, to be a great companion to the book which I reflect in my Amazon review here.

Embracing the concept of deep practice presented in the book is a key to consistent optimum performance.

Every day I witness the best performers are those who are mastering deep practice.

There's a great connection to the idea of deep work. See more about this here.



Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Home Ground Advantage




The sign above hangs on the wall at Lisa and Brendan Hanrahan's cafe and cakes shop at 125 Sturt Street Ballarat. 

I stumbled on their place originally. Now I go there deliberately because you get a genuinely different experience on top of the great food (made on the premises) and coffee.

Futurist Roger Hamilton says

"We now live in a world where all content is becoming free. But while people are spending less money, time and attention on content, they are putting more money, time and attention into their experiences."

At Home Ground Cafe and Cakes in Ballarat it costs a little more than down the road, yet the fast growing list of regular customers like me proves we're prepared to pay for our experiences.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS something else unique at Home Ground - buy 5 coffees get the 6th free!

Monday 17 April 2017

3 key ways to set your moral compass


More from Gerd here.

3 key ways to set your moral compass

1) Determine "key human indicators" a concept  from Gerd above. They're of far greater value than the tired, old KPI's.

Ask What does it mean for me to be a human being fully alive? Let people know this is what you stand for. Be a role model.

2) Embrace enlightened self-interest in your own best way

3) Turn your values into virtues

More about this here.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian


Friday 14 April 2017

The delights of decluttering


I found the image above here while googling for more on decluttering by Marty Neumeier after I read the following by him in his great book Metaskills:

Clutter is any element that doesn't contribute meaning or usefulness 
- a form of pollution that make life harder to navigate

I find it very valuable every time I write, prepare a talk, write a report for a client, whatever, to scan for meaning and usefulness and then eliminate anything that doesn't pass the test.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 12 April 2017

Here's my 3 words. What's yours?

The following 3 words are my guides for sustaining positive momentum this year:


Why THREE Words? I'll let Chris Brogan explain. His full post and his 3 words are here.

We choose three words so that you can use them for triangulation. One word seems to fade away from our memory too quickly. Two words sets our brain up to think of “this or that” kinds of logic. Three words gives us a way to think about the situations in our lives from many dimensions.

I’ve tried four words and it was a bad year. Everyone’s tried one word and you get mixed results. Three seemed right, and I’ve been doing it since 2006, so I’ve had lots of practice at this point.

What's your 3 words?

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS Next month I'll be celebrating 10 years writing this blog. Each of the 14 posts in May will be related to my 3 words and I'll be combining the posts into an ebook as a gift for you.

Monday 10 April 2017

The Gifts Symposium

As you may know I'm in the process of giving away my learning, unlearning, and relearning from my life and work that can be provided digitally, and that I believe you as a purpose-driven leader will highly value.

The access page to my gifts for you is here.

These symposiums are your opportunity to explore with me personally and other people of like heart and mind, the gifts I'm providing. 

Read more of the philosophy here.

The subject for this first symposium on May 4th 2017 is Change Leadership.

We'll be embracing one meaning of symposium - a drinking party or convivial discussion. The drinking is optional. I'll probably be having a whiskey. Convivial discussion will be the focus; to be precise candid and convivial.

We'll be exploring: 
why change management is an oxymoron, 
why we need a change processes and not change programs, 
and why all change is personal first, relationships second, and organisational a distant third.

Registration for this symposium is also a gift. 
You can claim your place here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 7 April 2017

Metaskills you and your children need in order to thrive

This is a wonderful book.

I've added it to my recommended reading list

You can download my full list here.

My Amazon review of Metaskills is here.

I also highly recommend the author Marty Neumeier's personal website here. Check out the Steal This Idea section.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 5 April 2017

Tapping into the fact that most people are passionate about progress

To help my clients to remove the cause/s underlying their stress I introduce them to the science of quantum leaps:

We then work together through the following change process:

Soon people become much less anxious about the future and only focus on the next quantum leap.

A key to sustaining positive momentum (and not feeling the strain of negative stress) is the visualisation of progress.

I work with my clients to create appropriate scorecards and scoreboards so that progress is always visible.

This is not all just pretty pictures. The science is known as The Progress Principle, one of Harvard Business Review's breakthrough ideas. The key, and what people are passionate about is, "making progress in meaningful work."

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS If you'd love some help with making progress visible in your workplace please contact me on +61 418 807 898.